Project description
At the Embrace Centre, a shelter in the city of Bujumbura in Burundi, street children and children with disabilities find a safe place during the day. The shelter, affiliated to the local church Christian Life Ministries, pays school fees for 25 children and provides medical care, a daily meal, tutoring, sports, games and recreation. Driven by God's love and with personal attention to each child, the team guides them towards independence. The children feel like kings!
Why this project?
The big city of Bujumbura is rife with poverty, addiction, violence, hopelessness and recurrent diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever. There are many children roaming the streets who are immensely vulnerable and begging to get food. As they get older, they often struggle with depression and shame. They do not learn a trade, making it difficult for them to earn a living. At a young age, they can fall seriously ill, leaving them scarred for life.
Impact
Embrace's team takes in street children and accompanies them to a primary school. In order to give them more chances for a hopeful and dignified future. By working on the foundations of children's lives at a young age - through personal attention and love, education and talent development - we want to prepare them for a stable and independent existence. In addition, children also receive the necessary medical care. In this way, we want to offer them hope for the future, enabling them to emerge from the negative spiral of poverty, violence and brokenness.
What can we learn?
A little personal attention and love makes a world of difference. And not just for the children in Burundi!
